𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄
𝟐𝟓:𝟐𝟎 - 𝟑𝟒:𝟑𝟎
𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 2 » 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙧

∞

We all watch as a woman cries over a man, a dead man. JJ's stood on a box and is holding onto the beam above him with one hand, his bicep muscles flexing as he adjusts his grip. John B's sat on a table next to Peeler, kicking his legs anxiously. Pope's leaning on the other side of the girl while Kie and I are sat on a box below JJ, our legs pushed together due to the tiny seat.

"Who's that?"John asks, nodding his head towards the ambulance.

"It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm." Peeler explains. "Check out this pic I got. Dead bodyyy." She showed us her phone screen, highlighting a gruesome image of the man, his body cut up and bruised.

"What kind of boat did he have?" JJ questions, his head tilted.

"Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand-new Grady White. Everyone's looking for it." She shrugs, shaking her head.

My back straightens and I feel Kie shift uncomfortably beside me. We all look at each other, thinking the same thing. We found his boat. We found a dead mans boat.

~~

I hand them all beers as I walk out from the kitchen onto the porch. John B's juggling an empty bottle, which he quickly places down after realising I have a full one. JJ's messing with a lighter in the armchair and Kie's laid out on the sofa.

I lift up her legs carefully so I can sit down and then place them back on my lap, sending her a quick smile. JJ just stares at me, not blinking or moving just staring, his tongue licking his lips. I tilt my head at him in confusion but he doesn't move a muscle until Pope runs up, breaking his trance.

"Okay. So um... we didn't see anything. We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia!" He explains and sits on the arm of the chair next to me.

"Actually, Pope's right for once." JJ stands up, shoving his lighter into his shorts pocket, "See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny. Deny. Deny."

"Guys we can't keep that money." Kie moves her legs and sits properly, running. a hand through her hair.

"Okay. Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara." JJ retorts and I try my best not to laugh, my hand sliding over my mouth as I cough awkwardly, receiving a hard glare from the girl.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs." She continues.

"Otherwise that's bad karma." I agree, nodding enthusiastically.

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too. We gotta go dark." Pope nods.

"If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." JJ smiles and looks out at the beach, one hand resting on the beam.

"I don't agree." John B pats his shoulder.

"What? Why?" The blonde's back straightens and his eyebrows furrow.

"Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than 40 bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden he's got a Grady White? Just sayin'."

He keeps wittering on about it. So when we're fishing on the dock outside the house he tries to convince Pope.

I stand beside JJ, leaning on the beam, a few metres away from the others, my fingers fiddling while he messes with the fishing rod, glancing over at me.

"Hey, playboy." I smile, my eyes watching the ripples of the water around the fishing string.

"Hey, princess." He smirks, nudging me with his elbow.

I glare over at him, my lips in a flat line while my cheeks start to flush a bright red, causing me to lower my head, causing him to let out a light laugh.

"What does that mean? JJ?" John B asks from a few feet away, turning around to point over at his best grin.

"They're were straight smugglin'." He answers; clearly haven listened to their conversation more than me, "FISH ON!" JJ shouts right in my ear, smacking my arm frantically while reeling in the fish.

"Ow. That hurt, dickhead." I hit his chest in frustration, rubbing my ear, earning a wink in response.

~~~

Pope snatches the money out of JJ's hands. "For the recorded if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it... it probably belongs to someone else."

"Who cares?" I shrug, lifting my legs up onto the bed, my arms resting behind my head.

"Minor details." Kie mumble, looking at her feet.

"They could come looking for it. Taking it would be catastrophically stupid." Pope slaps the money on his leg and JJ takes it back roughly.

"Right." He sighs, "Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time. All we need to do is figure out a way to get into the cargo hold of that wreck. Until then, we just lay low. Just act normal."

"Right. And how exactly do we do that?" Pope sighs, "We aren't the most normal people ever."

I smile widely, sitting up and rubbing my calms together, "Kegger?"

"Kegger!" John B shouts, smashing his hand against mine in a smooth high five happily.

We get the tanks and the cups and make our way to the boneyard. Everyone comes here. All sides of the islands, all groups. Everyone. It's the air between the both sides where we actually throw all our problems away, tolerating each other for just one night.

"Pour me one." I nod to the beer as soon as John B gets it ready, holding out my hand and it's quickly filled by a red solo cup filled to the brim with beer.

"Yes ma'am." He bowes, turning the boy beside him, "You want one Pope?" John B holds out a cup for Pope but he quickly declines it. JJ steps forward quickly, greedily taking the alcohol instead.

After a few minutes the bone yard is packed. People are sat all over and others are dancing to the low music blasting through the speakers some Kooks brought.

I sip on a log further away from the rest, my eyes scanning over the crowd; noticing Kie and Pope attempt to flirt with some tourons, failing miserably by bombarding them with their boring facts.

"Ava, right? The always high girl with trust issues?"

My eyes float to the space beside me, landing on a boy, around my age, miles taller and his sunglasses pushed too far up his nose for me to see his eyes. I raise an eyebrow at him, "That's me." I grumble, "How come I don't know you?"

He scoffs, pushing his cup of beer into the sand below him, "You don't exactly have the best reputation with the Kooks. We all know you."

"You're a Kook?" I scoff at my own words, shaking my head gently, "Of course you are." I motion lazily towards his white polo shirt and denim shorts, "You look like you're about to attend a beach wedding."

"This is my first 'kegger'." He does air quotations, pointing at the busy party a few metres in front of us, "It's not what I expected it to be."

I purse my lips, smiling gently at Pope doing his usual girl scream while being chased by Kiara, "You grow to love them." I glance over at him, "Kooks, like you, usually live for this shit."

"Ava Booker-Routledge!" JJ calls loudly, his hands cupping his lips as he matches over, the beer inside of his red solo cup spilling over the edges, "Finally, I fucking find you."

"Who's this guy?" The boy bumps me, nudging his head towards the blonde.

I laugh, "So you've heard of me, but not JJ?" I rise up, brushing the back of my shorts off, turning to him, "That'd be a first. I'll see you around, I guess." I give him one last weak wave before being dragged away.

The blonde Pogue shoves me against a tree  roughly, leaning in and kissing my neck, mumbling incoherent words against my skin.

I shove him back out of surprise, my hands resting on his chest, "Woah, playboy. Calm down. What's this all about?"

"Doing what we've tried to do several times before. Plus, I know he's watching.." He smirks before pulling me  loser again, this time kissing my lips.

Surprisingly, I don't pull away and slowly relax into the kiss, my hand travelling up his chest before moving around to the back of his head while one of his hands hold my thigh, lifting it up to hook around his own leg.

He pulls away, smirking with deep red cheeks , "Fuck, yeah." He breathes.

"Who's watching?" I question, trying my hardest to distract him from the blush on my own cheeks.

"That Kook you were speaking to." He swallows, "Motherfucker has a bad reputation of fucking different girls daily."

I bite my lip, nodding slowly as my eyes flick to the boy in the distance, noticing him trudging away sheepishly, and I avert my eyes back to JJ's blue ones which seem to be occupied by my chest, "Eyes up, playboy."

He raises his gaze from my breasts to my eyes, flicking out of his trance, "Huh?"

I laugh gently, tilting my head slowly, "You don't like me, right?"

"Who said that?" He grimaces slightly, dropping my leg and resting both of his hands on my waist.

"Do you like me?" I repeat.

"Ava," He chuckles awkwardly, rolling his jaw, "I aren't the typa boy to catch feelings that quick."

I nod firmly, patting his shoulder gently, "Okay. See you later, Maybank." I push his hands off me, slipping past his body before jogging over to my brother and Kiara, both of their eyes trained on someone in the distance.

"What is she doing here?" Kie snarls in disgust and then I realise who she's talking about, rolling my eyes.

The Kook Princess; Sarah Cameron. Everyone knows her, most people dislike her but have no choice but to be kind to her. I've had a bad past with her and so has Kiara. She's never really gone into detail what happened between them, but Kie had a Kook year, where she left us and became best friends with the blonde. I have no clue on what separated them.

"What the fuck is she doing here?" I tilt my head, glaring at my brother.

He doesn't answer, he just stares her as she climbs up a washed-up buoy, giggling happily while her boyfriend, Topper, attempts to pull her down. I shake my head in annoyance, grabbing Kie's hand and pull her away from the scene.

"Your brothers a twat." She spits.

"Tell me about it." I mutter.

~~

It got dark extremely quick. Some people had gone home but the beach was still packed. I walk beside my brother along the water line, smashing my sliders in the water gently. A loud whistle causes us to come to a stop, glancing back at the blonde as he rushes over.

"Heyyyy." He says as we walk closer, smiling happily.

"Hey, JJ." I roll my eyes at his drunk state, gently holding his arm to keep him up right, "You okay there, playboy?"

"Never— never better." He replies, sending me weak thumbs up.

"What you doing?" My brother asks, tilting his head at his best friend.

"I got this for you." JJ passes him a cup, his eyes landing on someone else, "Oh, wait," he snatches it back into his chest quickly, waving the others over, "Hey, hey, hey. Sarah!"

Topper and Sarah walk over to us, hand in hand, graciously smiling and waving.

"Sarah, can I interest you in— in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?" JJ mumbles, offering the girl the cup of beer.

"No, thanks, JJ." She declines politely, sending him a kind nod.

"Is it not fancy enough for you?" JJ begins to raise his voice, starting to sound slightly snobby.

"No. We were just leaving." Sarah smiles slightly, trying her hardest to stay nice towards the clearly agitated boy.

"Hey, you know what? I'll take it." Topper speaks up, holding his hand out, "I'll- thank you man. I appreciate it." He goes to grab the drink but JJ moves back swiftly, my grip on his arm not changing.

"That's nice. But I'd didn't ask you." JJ snaps, "If you said pretty please, maybe, but you didn't."

I snort quietly, earning a hard glare from my brother, causing my face to drop again.

"Oh, pretty please. Pretty please?" Topper pouts jokingly, his head tilted and lips pursed.

"Yeah. So, Sarah. You can have it." JJ goes to pass the red cup to the girl but Topper flips it out of his hands roughly, causing the liquid to pour all down my front.

"You fucking idiot, Top." I snap angrily, rolling my eyes as I release JJ to attempt to brush the access beer off, "It's always you who has to better than everyone else." I mumble.

JJ's head snaps to me, noticing that I'm also covered in alcohol and he quickly lunges forward, grabbing Toppers shirt and shoving him away roughly. I twirl around the blonde's body, placing my hands on JJ's chest trying to keep him from getting more angry.

"Hey, playboy." I smile, and not warning any reaction, causing my hand to smack across his cheek gently, just enough to snap his eyes to me, "Nice to have you back. I love fights, you know this. But it's Topper, for fuck's sake, he could put you in jail for years just for laying a single hand on him."

He runs his tongue of his top teeth and opens his mouth to say something until we both hear a shout, my back straightening.

"DIRTY POGUES!"

I scoff, my jaw clenching while I who around on my heels, charging over to the Kook and grabbing his collar, throwing him to the ground, causing him to groan out in pain.

"Say that again. I dare you." My nostrils flare as I bend over him, my fists still full with his polo-shirts collar, "Go on, Top. Say it."

"Dirty pogue." He spits lowly.

I smirk before raising my fist to land a solid punch to his cheek, my ring leaving a small cut. Sarah let's out a loud scream from behind me, yelling my name as I prepare my hand for another blow but Kie pulls me back into a hug, "Ava, fucking stop."she whispers to me, her arms tightening around me as I struggle against her grip, my eyes landing on my brother; Topper kicking him into the water.

"Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?" He shouts, kicking my brother again, laughing loudly.

I let out a yell of anger and try to charge forward but JJ slides in front of me, holding me in place, "You good? What was that you just said about Topper being able to put you in jail? Yeah, I think you should listen to your own advice, princess."

I glare at him for a moment before my gaze flicks to Topper holding John B under the water by his neck; drowning him. I look at JJ, shoving him towards the fight, "Do something before I do."

He nods and pulls something out of his backpack. The gun. He strides into the water pulling out the gun and placing it on the back of Toppers head, causing everything to come to a stop. People begin to scream at the sight of the firearm and Sarah starts to screech desperately.

"JJ! STOP!" Kie screams, letting go of me and allowing me to steps beside the blonde, lowering my head to meet his eyes.

"JJ, this isn't exactly what I meant." I plead but he ignores me completely, his jaw clenched as he continues to threat Topper and I'm pulled back again by Kiara.

"Kie, Ava! Can you check your psycho friend, please!" Sarah screams frantically, her arms waving around.

"OH? My psycho friend? What about your fucking boyfriend?" I start to yell at her, striding towards her and she starts to cower back, "He's the one who just tried to drown my brother. You're—"

"OKAY!" JJ shouts, raising the gun into the air, "Everyone, listen up. Get the hell off our side of the island!" He pulls the trigger quickly, firing two shots, causing everyone to rush away, screams of terror escaping their lungs.

I flinch slightly at the shots and watch as Topper and Sarah scurry away, rolling my eyes at their petty behaviour before dropping down to John B, who's passed out, his face just above the waters surface.

I stay silent as I slowly bring his arm round my shoulder and drag him off the floor. Kie and Pope continue to lecture JJ while I walk past them undetected, getting John B to the Twinkie.